Mexico's gender equality commission approves reforms to protect migrant women and criminalize forced cohabitation

On 23 June 2026 the Mexican Chamber of Deputies' Commission for Gender Equality voted unanimously to amend the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence. The reform package expands protection for women who are migrants, refugees or internally displaced, inserting the phrase “situación de migración, refugio o desplazamiento” and requiring protection orders to consider their specific vulnerabilities. It also mandates the inclusion of migrant women in the National System for Prevention, Attention, Sanction and Eradication of Violence against Women, and adds the Secretariat of Women as a coordinating body.

The same vote introduced new provisions that define forced cohabitation as a distinct form of gender‑based violence, covering situations where women, girls or adolescents are compelled to live with a partner against their will. It also classifies acid attacks and other corrosive substances as violent acts against women. The amendments add new paragraphs to articles 6 Bis, 7 and 16 of the law, aiming to improve case identification, enable timely protection measures and strengthen state obligations. The reforms were presented by legislators including Martha Lucía Micher Camarena, Karina Margarita del Río Zenteno and Karina Isabel Ruiz Ruiz, and received unanimous support across party lines.